Information storage medium containing multi-path data, and storage apparatus and player thereof

ABSTRACT

A data recording and reproducing apparatus supporting multi-path recording reproduction, and an information storage medium on which multi-path data is recorded. The information storage medium includes at least one clip that is a recording unit containing presentation data for respective paths, wherein presentation data in a selected path is continuously reproduced without changing paths, and additional path information regarding a block of the path is recorded separately from the presentation data. Accordingly, it is possible to more effectively use a recording space and reduce the frequency of jumping to clips, thereby effectively reading the multi-path presentation data from the information storage medium.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/793,955, filed Mar. 8, 2004, now pending, which claims the benefit ofKorean Patent Application No. 2003-19683 and Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 2004-1088, filed on Mar. 28, 2003 and Jan. 8, 2004 respectively, inthe Korean Intellectual Property Office, and of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/458,431, filed Mar. 31, 2003; U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/452,558filed Mar. 7, 2003; and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/452,551, filed Mar. 7, 2003, the disclosures of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to multi-path data, and more particularly,to a recording/reproducing apparatus recording and reproducing data witha multi-path structure and an information storage medium on which themulti-path data is recorded.

2. Description of the Related Art

A multi-path denotes a plurality of paths including language credit dataand multi-angle data, through which Audio-Video (AV) data isreproduced/recorded. A digital versatile disc (DVD) is a representativeof conventional information storage media on which multi-path data isrecorded using an interleaving method in which the data is divided intopredetermined units and the units are alternately recorded. Theinterleaving method enables quick reproduction of data stored on arelated path when a path change is instructed by a user. Generally, themulti-path recording is performed with regard to an information storagemedium which has no recording position restrictions and a multi-pathdata structure in which data is recorded to have different reproductiontimes.

FIG. 1 illustrates a data structure of a DVD with a multi-path dataconfiguration according to the interleaving method. Referring to FIG. 1,the DVD is divided into a video management group (VMG) area 110 and aplurality of video title set (VTS) areas 120 a through 120 n.Information regarding management of titles and title menus is stored inthe VMG area 110 and information regarding titles is recorded in theplurality of VTS areas 120 a through 120 n. In general, the VMG area 110comprises two or three files and each of the VTS 120 a through 120 narea comprises three to twelve files.

FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed data structure of the VMG area 110 ofFIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, the VMG area 110 includes a videomanagement group information (VMGI) area 112 containing additionalinformation regarding the VMG area 110, a video object subtitle (VOBS)area 114 containing video object information regarding the title menu,and a VMGI backup area 116. Each of the VMGI area 112, the VOBS area114, and the VMGI backup area 116 exists as a file. However, theinclusion of the VOBS area 114 in the VMG area 110 is optional, so thatin some cases, the VOBS area 114 may not be formed in the VMG area.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed data structure of the VTS area 120 n ofFIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 3, video title set information (VTSI) 310,VOBS 320 for a menu, which is presentation data for a menu screen, VOBS330 for a video title set, and VTSI backup data 340 are recorded in theVTS area 120 n. Recording of the VOBS 320 for menu is optional fordisplaying a menu screen. The VOBS 330 for a video title set is dividedinto a plurality of video objects (VOBs) and a plurality of cells thatare recording units. Each VOB comprises a plurality of cells. In thisdisclosure, the basic recording unit is a recording cell.

FIG. 4 illustrates a video title linked to a plurality of program chains(PGCs) for controlling reproduction of the video title video objectsaccording to the interleaving method. As shown in FIG. 4, when one ofthe plurality of PGCs is selected and reproduced after reproduction ofanother PGC, a command for determining the PGC to be selected andreproduced may be stored on the DVD. Controlling the sequence ofreproduction is referred to as navigation. A command for determiningnavigation is contained in program chain information (PGCI).

FIG. 5 illustrates a data structure of the PGC according to theinterleaving method. Referring to FIG. 5, the PGC is stored in a PGCI510. The PGCI 510 contains a pre-command 512 that includes a navigationcommand, a post-command 516, and a plurality of programs 514 a through514 n. The pre-command 512 is carried out prior to reproduction of aparticular program linked to the PGC and the post-command 516 is carriedout after the reproduction of the particular program linked to the PGC.Each of the programs 514 a through 514 n contains a plurality ofreproduction cell information. Reproduction cells included in theprograms 514 a through 514 n are linked to respective recording cells asrecording units included in a VOB. Each reproduction cell, i.e., areproduction unit, has a reproduction cell command (CC) that is carriedout after reproduction thereof. Therefore, the PGCI is a hierarchicaldescription of the PGC, which is a reproduction unit, and has aninformation structure that links a reproduction cell, which is the basicreproduction unit, to a recording cell that is the basic recording unit.In particular, the PGC is a link of a plurality of reproduction cellsthat are reproduction units. Here, the plurality of reproduction cellsof a program 514 may form a path block.

FIG. 6 illustrates a structure of a path block 600 shown in FIG. 5.Referring to FIG. 6, the path block 600 is constructed such that aplurality of reproduction cells are arranged in parallel so that onlyone of these reproduction cells can be reproduced. The reproductioncells forming the path block 600 may have the same reproduction time ordifferent reproduction times, and each of the reproduction cellscorresponds to a specific path block in the path block 600. Ifreproduction cells, which are reproduction units, form a path block 600,corresponding linked VOBs and recording cells, which are recordingunits, of a path of the path block 600 are not continuously andsequentially recorded per path, but recorded according to theinterleaving method.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a reproduction path of presentationdata. A presentation engine reproduces presentation data in response toa presentation command given from a navigation manager. A series ofpresentation data are recorded in consecutive logical sectors accordingto a sequence of reading the series of presentation data duringmulti-path presentation data recording. The presentation data containsmultiple recording cells and the navigation manager gives thepresentation command with respect to at least one recording cell. Thus,the reproduction path of the presentation data is determined by thesequence of recording cells prescribed by a PGC.

FIG. 7 illustrates multi-path reproduction of presentation data for amovie, where a recording cell from among a plurality of recording cellsof the movie is reproduced according to navigation (reproductioncommand) data. In FIG. 7, “language credit” indicates reproduction ofthe movie according to a type of language. For instance, in the lastscene of the movie, the type of language describing subtitle informationregarding characters or producing staff is determined by the “languagecredit.” Otherwise, when the movie includes a scene where a characterreads a newspaper, the newspaper may be determined to be a Koreannewspaper or an English newspaper according to the “language credit”.Also, “director's cut” denotes a particular sequence of video objects ofthe movie, selected by a movie manufacturer, and “multi-angle” denotesthat the movie was shot at multiple camera angles. The presentation datashown in FIG. 7 can be reproduced following multiple paths withoutpause. Such reproduction of data is called seamless play. Regardingangle data, typically, during reproduction of a movie, a user can changereproduction of one of angle data to another angle data. However,typically, change of a language determined by the language credit is notallowed, that is, reproduction paths according to the language creditmight not be changeable.

FIG. 8 illustrates a layout of presentation data with a multi-pathstructure for seamless play according to the interleaving method.Referring to FIG. 8, the presentation data is recorded using theinterleaving method. A presentation engine sequentially reads data froman interleaved block and reproduces the presentation data following adesignated path of reproduction while skipping reproduction of undesireddata. If data is reproduced following a first path 810, interleaveddata, i.e., a first interleaving unit (ILVU) 811, a second ILVU 812, anda third ILVU 813, for the first path 810 is reproduced while skippingreproduction of a first ILVU 821, a second ILVU 822, and a third ILVU823 for a second path 820. For jumping to a desired track, thepresentation engine requires a track buffer that enables thepresentation data to be supplied to a decoder without intermission.

Therefore, when multi-path data is divided into predetermined units andrecorded using the interleaving method for multi-path reproduction, datastored on the same reproduction path is not continuously recorded in thesame area. Accordingly, reproduction positions are unavoidablyrepeatedly changed, i.e., unnecessary jumps between cells occur, duringdata reading. In particular, when reproducing data from an opticalstorage medium or a hard disc that requires a lot of time to changereproduction positions, bit rates of compressed bit streams would belimited to compensate for the reproduction position changes on theoptical or hard disc storage medium that requires additional positionjumping time, so that the AV data can be reproduced withoutintermission).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a recording apparatus effectivelyrecording multi-path data by separately recording presentation streamson respective paths, a reproducing apparatus for reproducing themulti-path data, and an information storage medium on which themulti-path data is recorded. A benefit of the present invention is torecord and reproduce without using an interleaving recording andreproducing method, thereby allowing compression of bit streams (AVdata) recorded on optical storage media according to unlimited bit rateswith respect to a maximum reproducing rate from the optical storagemedia.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided aninformation storage medium on which multi-path presentation data isrecorded, the information storage medium comprising a plurality ofPlayLists storing information regarding reproduction paths forming themulti-path; and at least one clip that is a recording unit recording thepresentation data, wherein each PlayList contains at least one PlayItemlinked to the at least one clip that is recorded continuously.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information storage medium on which multi-path presentation data isrecorded, the information storage medium comprising at least one clipthat is a recording unit recording the presentation data with respect torespective paths; and additional information regarding a path block(i.e., path block information) including a set of information specifyingreproduction paths of the respective paths (specifying reproduction pathlinks to continuously recorded clips). Therefore, according to thepresent invention, data for a predetermined path is seamlesslyreproduced without changing paths when reproducing the presentation datafor the respective paths, and the path block additional information isrecorded separately from the presentation data.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a reproducing apparatus that reproduces multi-path presentationdata, comprising a reading unit that reads the presentation data; and areproducing unit that reproduces clips that are recording units of thepresentation data, based on a PlayList that records a reproduction pathof the read presentation data, wherein the clips of the reproductionpath are continuously recorded in a same area of an information storagemedium.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a recording apparatus that records multi-path presentationdata, comprising a processor that processes AV data and generatesmulti-path presentation data; and a recording unit that records eachpresentation data of each path in clip units in a same area of aninformation storage medium and records PlayList information recordingreproduction paths of the multi-path presentation data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a data structure of a digital versatile disc (DVD)with a multi-path data structure according to an interleaving method;

FIG. 2 illustrates a data structure of a video manager (VMG) area ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a data structure of a video title set (VTS) area ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a structure of a title linked to a plurality ofprogram chains (PGCs) according to the interleaving method;

FIG. 5 illustrates a data structure of a PGC according to theinterleaving method;

FIG. 6 illustrates a path block;

FIG. 7 illustrates a reproduction path of presentation data;

FIG. 8 illustrates a layout of presentation data with a multi-pathstructure, which is reproduced using seamless play according to theinterleaving method;

FIG. 9 illustrates the relation among a PlayList, a PlayItem, clipinformation, and a clip, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a PlayList with a multi-path structure, according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a data structure of a PlayList that includesPlayItems that form a path block, and a data structure of a PlayItemincluded in the path block, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 illustrates PlayLists that are reproduction units, the PlayListsbeing constructed for respective paths, according to another embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 13 illustrates a data structure of a PlayList constructed for apath as shown in FIG. 12, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 14 illustrates the relation among a PlayList, a PlayItem, clipinformation, and a clip, according to another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a reproducing apparatus, according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the presentinvention by referring to the figures.

Since the presentation data is bulky, it is compressed and stored (ortransmitted) as compressed bit streams. The present invention disclosesuse of a clip as a recording unit of the presentation data and aPlayList and a PlayItem as reproduction units. With respect to the DVD,the clip conceptually corresponds to a recording cell that is arecording unit and the PlayList and the PlayItem correspond to a programand a reproducing cell that are reproduction units. In other words, anAV stream is recorded in clip units on an information storage mediumaccording to the present invention. In general, clips (i.e., clips ofeach path) are recorded in contiguous areas of the information storagemedium. An AV stream is also compressed and recorded to reduce the sizethereof. When reproducing a recorded clip, clip information recorded inclips is required to interpret the characteristics of compressedpresentation data. The clip information specifies AV attributes of eachclip and includes an entry point map that describes the positions ofentry points enabling random access at predetermined intervals. In thecase of the motion picture experts group (MPEG) video compressiontechnique, an entry point is a group of pictures (GOP) header or an Ipicture that is used as a random access point. The entry point map ismainly used for detecting the position of data in a predetermine timezone after starting of data reproduction.

FIG. 9 illustrates the relation among a PlayList, a PlayItem, clipinformation, and a clip, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 9, a PlayList 910 is a basic reproductionunit. An information storage medium according to the present inventioncontains a plurality of PlayLists. The PlayList 910 is linked to aplurality of PlayItems 920. A PlayItem is a portion of a clip, and moreparticularly, indicates starting and finishing times of reproduction ina clip. Thus, clip information is used to easily detect a desiredportion of a clip.

FIG. 10 illustrates a PlayList with a multi-path structure according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10,in general, a plurality of PlayItems corresponding to respectivePlayLists have a sequential structure. However, when a plurality ofPlayItems are recorded to support multi-path as shown in FIG. 10, theplurality of PlayItems form a PlayItem path block 1010 (referred to aspath block hereinafter). The path block 1010 includes PlayItems formulti paths. When reproducing the path block, only one PlayItem thereofis reproduced following a predetermined path. In the exemplaryembodiments of the present invention, during the reproduction of thePlayItem, path change is not allowed in the path block PlayItems. Inother words, during reproduction of the PlayItem, path change is notallowed in the path block in response to a user input. The path blockPlayItems may be constructed to have either the same reproduction timeor different reproduction times. Here, clips representing presentationdata are divided into predetermined units and recorded in consecutiveareas of an information storage medium without using interleaving.Therefore, in contrast to the interleaving units (e.g., ILVU1-3 of firstpath) of the interleaved block, which are not stored continuously andsequentially as shown in FIG. 8, according to the present invention,each path block PlayItem clip (e.g., clip 2 of a path) is recorded inconsecutive areas as shown in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 illustrates a data structure of a PlayList that includesPlayItems that form a path block, and a data structure of a PlayItemincluded in the path block. Referring to FIG. 11, each of the PlayItemsincluded in the path block contains the present invention's PlayItemgeneral information and path block information. In general, path blockinformation basically specifies whether some PlayItems included in aPlayList form a path block. Clips referred to by PlayItems forming apath block can be sequentially recorded as shown in FIG. 10. Whenreproducing presentation data, only one PlayItem is selected from theplurality of path block PlayItems, which constitute the PlayList, to bereproduced. As mentioned above, changes of PlayItems belonging to thesame path block are not allowed.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of PlayLists, i.e., reproduction units,which are constructed for respective paths, according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 12, a PlayItembelonging to each of the PlayLists does not form a path block, that is,each PlayItem corresponds to a path, and as described in more detailbelow, the PlayLists include path information.

FIG. 13 illustrates a data structure of a PlayList constructed for apath as shown in FIG. 12, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 13, eachPlayList corresponding to different paths further contains pathinformation that specifies its path. When reproducing presentation data,one of the PlayLists for multiple paths is selected and reproduced. Asmentioned above, change of PlayLists at the same multiple paths is notallowed. As described above, according to the present invention,multi-path presentation data is divided into predetermined recordingunits (clip or clips) and recorded in consecutive areas of aninformation storage medium per path. Also, reproduction units(PlayLists) are provided to be linked to related recording units, whichfurther include multi-path information.

Accordingly, a method of reproducing a multi-path presentation datausing a reproducing apparatus according to the present invention willnow be described. First, additional information regarding selection of adesired path (i.e., a PlayList with path information, which can be pathblock information as the case may be) is recorded on an informationstorage medium, separately from the presentation data. The reproducingapparatus reads the additional information (reads the PlayList with pathinformation) from the information storage medium prior to reproductionof the presentation data and stores the read information in a memory.Next, the reproducing apparatus detects data having the selected pathand reproduces the detected data according to the PlayList with the pathinformation. Each clip, which is a recording unit, contains path-blocklinkage information (a PlayList with path information) regarding theclip presentation data for a corresponding path. Thus, when a path isselected via a PlayList with path information, the linked clips of thePlayList for a related path is continuously reproduced.

The multi-path presentation data can be read from consecutive areas ofthe information storage medium and reproduced, since clips forrespective paths are not interleaved but are recorded in the consecutiveareas. For this reason, the multi-path presentation data can be encodedas in general presentation data. Accordingly, for seamless reproductionof data for a path, the multi-path presentation data is not required tobe divided into predetermined units and recorded using interleaving.

A recording apparatus according to the present invention records theabove clips, additional information for selection of a path (i.e., pathinformation) and reproduction-unit information (i.e., a PlayList withthe path information) on an information storage medium, so thatPlayLists are made to correspond to paths (FIG. 12). According to anaspect of the present invention, information regarding reproductionunits having multiple paths (i.e., a PlayList with path blockinformation) is created and recorded, in which a plurality of PlayItemscorresponding to respective clips are formed as the path block, and thePlayList is constructed to be linked to the plurality of PlayItems asthe path block (FIG. 10).

FIG. 14 illustrates the relation among a PlayList, a PlayItem, and aclip, according to another embodiment of the present invention. EachPlayList includes at least one PlayItem and a PlayItem is linked to aclip. Depending, for example, on a value of language credit asnavigation data, one of a first PlayList 1410 and a second PlayList 1420may be reproduced. Parts of PlayItems 1412, 1414, and 1416 belonging tothe first PlayList 1410 and PlayItems 1422, 1424, and 1426 belonging tothe second PlayList 420 may be linked to the same clips. Since onlyparts of PlayItems are differently reproduced according to the value ofthe language credit, they can be linked to additional clips.

Referring to FIG. 14, the first PlayItem 1412 belonging to the firstPlayList 1410 is linked to a first clip linked to the first PlayItem1422 belonging to the second PlayList 1420. The third PlayItem 1416belonging to the first PlayList 1410 is linked to a fourth clip linkedto the third PlayItem 1426 belonging to the second PlayList 1420. Thesecond PlayItem 1414 belonging to the first PlayList 1410 is linked to asecond clip and the second PlayItem 1424 belonging to the secondPlayList 1420 is linked to a third clip. For instance, a scene where acharacter of a movie reads a Korean newspaper is the second clip and ascene where the character reads an English newspaper is the third clip.The first and fourth clips may be shared by the first and secondPlayLists 1410 and 1420.

Selection of a PlayList to be reproduced has been described in a systemparameter of a movie object. For instance, information regarding thelanguage credit is stored in the system parameter. If a value of thelanguage credit corresponds to Korean language, the first PlayList 1410is reproduced. If the value of the language credit corresponds toEnglish language, the second PlayList 1420 is reproduced.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a reproducing apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 15, thereproducing apparatus includes a reading unit 1510 and a reproducingunit 1520. The reading unit 1510 reads presentation data, and thereproducing unit 1520 reproduces a clip, which is a recording unit ofthe presentation data, based on PlayList information regarding areproduction path of the read representation data. Clips arecontinuously recorded in the same area of an information storage mediumper path.

The reproducing unit 1520 reproduces at least one clip that can be arecording unit of presentation data for a plurality of paths. In aninformation area of the clip, entry point information regarding pointsthat can be randomly accessed is recorded. The entry point informationenables sequential reproduction of data from a path. The reproducingunit 1520 reproduces reproduction units (PlayLists) including PlayItemscorresponding to respective clips. A PlayItem is linked to an entireclip or a portion thereof. Also, the reproducing unit 1520 reproduces apath block comprising a plurality of multi path PlayItems. When thereproducing apparatus reproduces a plurality of PlayItems forming a pathblock, only one PlayItem is reproduced.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a recording apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 16, the recordingapparatus includes a recording unit 1610 and a processor 1620. Therecording unit 1620 continuously records presentation data in clip unitsin the same area of an information storage medium. The recording unit1610 records presentation data continuously for respective paths in atleast one clip, records PlayItems corresponding to respective clips anda PlayList comprising the plurality of PlayItems as reproduction unitsto correspond to respective paths, and records information regardingmulti-paths as a path block including the plurality of PlayItems (as thecase may be).

As described above, according to the present invention, multi-pathpresentation data and additional path information for selection of apath are recorded in different areas of an information storage medium.The presentation data is divided into predetermined units and recordedin consecutive areas using a separate recording method different fromthe interleaving method. Accordingly, it is possible to more effectivelyuse a recording space and reduce the frequency of jumping various pathrecording units of presentation data, thereby effectively reading themulti-path presentation data from the information storage medium.Therefore, the present invention provides a method of providingmulti-path presentation data on an information storage medium withoutthe interleaving, comprising recording continuously a plurality of clipscontaining presentation data of respective paths; recording separatelyfrom the clips a plurality of PlayLists specifying reproduction pathsforming the multi-path; containing in each PlayList a plurality ofPlayItems linked to clips for the respective paths; sharing some of theclips among differing PlayLists for the respective paths (i.e., pathPlayLists or PlayLists per path) by linking PlayItems from the differentPlayLists to same clips for one path; and seamlessly reproducing the atleast one clip of a path without changing paths, when reproducing thepresentation data for the respective paths via the PlayLists.

The present invention can be embodied as a computer readable code in acomputer readable medium. Here, the computer readable medium may be anyrecording apparatus capable of storing data that is read by a computersystem, e.g., read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), acompact disc (CD)-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical datastorage device, and so on. Also, the computer readable medium may be acarrier wave that transmits data via the Internet, for example. Thecomputer readable recording medium can be distributed among computersystems that are interconnected through a network, and the presentinvention may be stored and implemented as a computer readable code inthe distributed system.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. An information storage medium comprising a multi path blockcomprising a plurality of reproduction paths corresponding to aplurality of languages, the medium comprising: a first playlistcorresponding to a first language, and a second playlist correspondingto a second language, the first playlist and the second playlistcorresponding to a same title, wherein the first playlist comprises afirst playitem pointing to data regarding a first reproduction pathcorresponding to the first language in the multi path block and thesecond playlist comprises a second playitem pointing to data regarding asecond reproduction path corresponding to the second language in themulti path block, and each of the first playlist and the second playlistcomprises at least one playitem pointing to data regarding a samereproduction path in other intervals than an interval corresponding tothe multi path block.
 2. The information storage medium of claim 1,wherein data regarding a reproduction path is included in a clip.
 3. Anapparatus for reproducing data from an information storage mediumcomprising a multi path block comprising a plurality of reproductionpaths corresponding to a plurality of languages, the apparatuscomprising: a reading unit which reads data and playlists from theinformation storage medium; and a reproducing unit which reproduces dataregarding one of the plurality of reproduction paths, in the multi pathblock, based on playlists, wherein the playlists comprises a firstplaylist corresponding to a first language, and a second playlistcorresponding to a second language, the first playlist and the secondplaylist corresponding to a same title, the first playlist comprises afirst playitem pointing to data regarding a first reproduction pathcorresponding to the first language in the multi path block and thesecond playlist comprises a second playitem pointing to data regarding asecond reproduction path corresponding to the second language in themulti path block, and each of the first playlist and the second playlistcomprises at least one playitem pointing to data regarding a samereproduction path in other intervals than an interval corresponding tothe multi path block.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein dataregarding a reproduction path is included in a clip.